SCIENCE-AND-RELIGION AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING

Abstract. A survey and interpretation is offered of the broad range of contemporary thinking that concerns itself with the relationships between religion and science. The survey consists of a spectrum of six types of thought: (1) The modern option: translating religious wisdom into scientific concepts; (2) the postmodern/new-age option: constructing new science-based myths; (3) the critical post-Enlightenment option: expressing the truth at the obscure margin of science; (4) the postmodern constructivist option: fashioning a new metaphysics for scientific knowledge; (5) the constructivist traditional option: interpreting science in dynamic traditional concepts; (6) the Christian evangelical option: reaffirming the rationality of traditional belief. The interpretive effort considers these options under the rubric of the contemporary search for meaning and takes note of controversy and convergence within this search. Thinking on the religion/science interface is representative of much contemporary thinking that deals with the question of meaning in the present intellectual and cultural situation.     

A SEARCH FOR PRINCIPLES IN PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY

Principles of Psychology was published as an introductory textbook, with the contemporary virtue of having chapters that "can he assigned in any order." It is a compendium of speculation, with very few connecting threads to tie materials together. This article reports one psychologist's travels through thex Principles, in search of latent organizing structure, using as a guidebook the methodological and substantive content of two recent articles (Kimble. 1989. 1990a). The journey had its low and high points: The methodology encountered was hardly worth the trip. The exciting moments were the views of correspondences between James' insights and what we know today.     

PURPOSE IN THE UNIVERSE: A SEARCH FOR WHOLENESS

Of course, it may be said that the impulsion to “make sense of existence” is just the beginning of wish fantasy, a desperate subterfuge to conceal the unbearable truth that existence is indeed absurd. This may be the case. But at least let us give the matter a hearing before we make up our minds to dis miss it.¹     

SEARCH FOR BELIEFS TO LIVE BY CONSISTENT WITH SCIENCE

Abstract. Instead of separating religion and science into "mutually incompatible realms," the new macromental paradigm of behavioral science permits integration of the two within a single consistent worldview. A new form of causal determinism combines conventional "bottom-up" with emergent "top-down" causation. Traditional materialist tenets are overturned, along with the science-values dichotomy, clearing the way for a science-based value/belief system. Intrinsic ethicomoral directives emerge in which a revised sense of the sacred would help protect the evolving quality of the biosphere, and the rights and welfare of future generations. Subsequent versions of today's changing worldview raise questions of which interpretation to believe. An analysis of "New Age" thinking is called for, and a brief attempt at such analysis is included.     

SPATIAL ATTENTION IN VISUAL SEARCH FOR FEATURES AND FEATURE CONJUNCTIONS

Abstract— Spatial attention was measured in visual searches tasks using a spatial probe. Both speed and accuracy measures showed that in a conjunction task, spatial attention was allocated to locations according to the presence of target features. Also, contrary to some predictions, spatial attention was used when a clearly distinguishable feature defined the target. The results raise questions about any account that assumes separate mechanisms for feature and conjunction search The probe method demonstrated here allows a very direct measurement of attentional allocation, and may uncover aspects of selection not revealed by visual search     

CARGOISM AND SCIENTIFIC JUSTIFICATION IN THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE

This article compares justifications of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) presented by scientists with ideational constructs associated with cargo cults in Melanesia. In focusing on similarities between cargoism and SETI, I argue that, understood in terms of cultural practice, aspects of the science of SETI have significant similarities to the religious elements that characterize cargoism. Through a focus on the construction of meanings, I consider how SETI and cargoism use similar signification systems to communicate meaning related to local social contexts and I draw a parallel with the religious and meaning structure of cargoism to show that SETI and cargoism employ similar strategies to justify beliefs. As a result, in some ways SETI represents a scientific framework that inhabits cultural and epistemological space that overlaps with religious space.     

运用职业自我选择测验(SDS)研制大学专业搜寻表的初步研究

为了给高考考生选择专业或在读的大学生选择辅修专业提供理论与实践的指导,该研究以ＳＤＳ作为测验工具,选取武汉市８所大学２２个专业１２２７名大学生作为研究样本,经施测后的数据统计分析表明：ＳＤＳ在大学生中基本适用。通过聚类分析、访谈发现,以标准分代替粗分的记分方法来产生的专业码具有较高的效度。按照这种方法将可研制出与ＳＤＳ配套使用的专业搜寻表。研究的结果还表明,专业搜寻表与Ｈｏｌｌａｎｄ职业搜寻表有中等一致性,是否直接按国外职业搜寻表来编制适合我国的专业搜寻表尚有待进一步研究来确定。     

ACCESS TO GLOBAL AND LOCAL PROPERTIES IN VISUAL SEARCH FOR COMPOUND STIMULI

Abstract— The question of whether attention is drawn more easily to global or local aspects of a stimulus has been debated for more than 100 years. We examined it anew, using the visual search task, which distinguishes sensory from attentional effect. Subjects searched for a target feature (eg., triangle vs square), which was equally likely to occur in the local elements of a compound search item, in its global structure, or in both Element size and spacing were used to manipulate whether search was generally easier for local or global targets (eg., small size and dense spacing favor global detection). The novel result was that these factors had very little influence on search slopes for local targets, whereas they had large effects on search slopes for global targets. This result suggests that a qualitatively different process underlies detection at the global level in traditional compound stimuli. Our proposal that an attention-demanding grouping stage is involved was confirmed in a final experiment in which grouping was made selectively difficult at the local level.